Improvement in sewer-excavators



D. KEATING.

SEWER ExcAvAToR.

No. 180,718. .Panam Aug. s, 187s.

UNITEE STATES PATENT OLEEreE.

DENNIS KEATING, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWER-EXCAVATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.-l80,-718, dated August 8, 1876 application filed March 14, 1876. I v

To all lwhom it 'may concern Be it known that I, DENNIS KEATING, of Indianapolis, county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machinery for Digging Sewers, &c., of y which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Myfinvention consists in the construction and arrangements of buckets and other mechanism operated by an endless chain, whereby I can excavate earth, as from a sewer, &c., to any required depth, and transfer `said earth to a set of earth-carrying buckets arranged on tramways in such a manner as to transfer said earth from the sewer in front, andto deposit the same into the sewer again at any given distance in the rear, after the mason-work has been completed, thereby saving an immense lot of labor, and the necessity of ,cumbering the streets with earth on either side of the ditch, which is of great importance in cities where the streets are narrow and will not admit of such-obstruction.

Y Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my improved excavation for sewers, 815e. Fig. 2 is a front view ofthe same. Fig. 3 is a view of one of the jack-screw stay-braces used to support the sheeting of the sewer. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the compound extensionvshaft on which the chain-wheel L4 revolves. Fig. 5 is a view of the tight bucket with serrated upper front edges.

A A represent a series of movable platforms, mounted upon wheels B,and are united together by tie-bars C, as shown in Fig. 1. On the movable platforms A are mounted the standards E, E', and E. The front standards E' are longer than those in the rear, and are of sufficient strength to hold the mechanism, as shown, for excavating the earth, which will hereafter be more fully described. The standards E E are designed to support the tramways F F. To'the rear standards Enear their tops,'are secured the boxes O, which support the shaft P in the position shown in Fig. 1. On this shaft P is secured the chain-wheel L, which is so arranged as to receive the pivotbars Y of the endless chain H, to which are attached the buckets J, as shown. The shaft Pl is also provided with a chain-wheel, L3,and

is mounted in suitable boxes at the rear of extra sections of tramways and extra standards E introduced between thewheels L and L3, and extra supports are added to the tramway by the addition ot' shafts P4, which are attached to such extra standards E of Fig. 1. The lower tramway F is supported by means of the stay-braces GG1 G2, shown, and the lower tramway F' is provided with rollers to support and allow the buckets J to pass freely over them. To the front end of the upper tramway is attached two side-boards,`N, with suitable standards. These side-boards are designed to catch the earth as it falls from the buckets H2, and guide the earthinto the buckets J, which will be more fully described hereafter. On the front standards E" ismounted boxes R4, which also support the shaft P6, on" which are secured the disks R3, that-support andhold the near part ofthe elevating-chain I at a distance in front of the earth-conveying buckets J, so as to allow the buckets H2,- to freely deliver the earth into the buckets J, and

at the same time prevent the buckets H2 from l catching on the vbuckets J. On the end of the shaft P1, that is attached to the rearof thefrou't y standards E, is secured the main driving or power pulley T, and also the pinion R, which is partially broken yaway yto-'show the chainwheel L3 beyond. rlhe shaft P3 is supported by the box E, (shown in Fig. 2,) and is also provided with a pinion, R1, which is used as an intermedi-al Wheel, and meshes with pinion R and pinion R2 onvthe end of the shaft P5. f

y the machine.

The pinion R2 is partially broken away to show the chain-wheel L1 beyond. The lower chainwheel L4 is su pported and revolves on a jackscrew extensionshaft, U U1 U2, which is inserted in the hole S ofthe chain-wheel L4. The shaft U U1 U2 is constructed with a sleeve or socket end, U1, the extreme outer end of which is provided with a cone or pivot-point, d. The main shaft U2 extends through the chain-wheel, and has a smaller part that fits into the socket U1. The socket U1 is also provided with a pin, a,that lits into holes properly drilled therein, and is -used to hold the sleeve or socket U1 in any extended position 011 the shaft U2, as shown in Fig. 4. In the other end of the shaft U2 is inserted a screw,

w, which is provided with a cone or Apivoted head, U d, and is also provided with levers a', to'operate the screw. The lpivoted ends d d of the compound shaft U U1 U2 are designed to be placed at -fany required position in the sewer, as shown in Fig. 2. Here it will be seen that the pivots d d rest against the side brace-bars V V1, that support the sheeting D D, or on the sheeting' on each side of the' sewer, and by this mode of adjusting the lower chain-wheel L4 I am .enabled to control and regulate the amount of earth removed.

The' side brace-bars c Iv' extend back, and are held in position by means of the pivoted jack-screws W, which are provided with a pivot point, y', at one end, and with a pivotpoint, y, attachedv tothe head w of the screw. At the other end thescrew X is also provided with levers h to operate it.v The diggingbuckets Hzare of peculiar construction. They are made-of' bars of iron or steel, bound together by suitablebands, and the upper ends of the bars at the front `of the bucket are made sharp, orshaped like a pick. The design of the open buckets is to allow all waterl that may be contained in the earth to be elevated to run out before the earth is deposited 'from the elevation-buckets into the conveyerbueketsJ, thus preventing the masons that are at Work in the sewer under the tramway from getting wet, as the buckets J are traveling over them from the front to the rear of I sometimes use a bucket formed of sheet metal, the upper front edge of which is serrated so as to more readily take hold of the earth, a view of which is shown in Fig. 5. v -v To operate my improved machine, it is first necessary to dig a hole of the proper lwidth of the ditch to be dug, then drive the sheeting D and secure the side brace-bars VV, after which set the machine to the proper width to allow the movable platforms A to work freely outside of the sheeting, as shown in Fig. 2; then lowerthe elevator-chain with the chain-pulley L4 and compound extension-pivoted shaft U U1 U2, and secure it in its position against the sheeting D D, as shown in Fig. 2; apply power to the pulley T, which will cause the conveyer-buckets J to travel backward on top of the tramway F, and also communicate, by means of the pinions R R1 R2, power to the elevator, which causes the buckets H2 which are attached to the chain H1 to move in the direction of the arrow c then the laborers commence to pick and shovel the earth in front of the elevator, and the earth is elevated and deposited into the buckets J of the conveyer, and at first is carried back and deposited on the ground until the ditch has been excavated of suicient length to allow the masons to commence work, after which, as the machine advances and the masons get part of their work completed, the earth is deposited on it, thus taking the earth from in front of the masons and depositingit on their work when complete, and thus saving the expense of a large amountof laborers, and the necessity of cumbering up the streets at the side of the ditch with earth to impede travel, &c.

By my improved machine I do away with all staging that formerly had Yto be built in sewers, and the labor of shoveling out the earth by hand, and consequently there is no danger from loss of life, as is frequently the .case where staging is used; and I can perform the labor'of digging a sewer in a great deal less time; and I am also enabled to dig sewers in narrow streets, where before it would have been impossible to do so, owing to the accumulation of earth and the obstruction of the fstreet.

What I claim as new, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a sewer-digging machine, the combination of adjustable standards E E" and movable platforms A B, arranged to operate on each side of the sewer, in the manner shown, 'and for the purposes set forth.

2. In lcombination with adjustable standards E and E", the shafts P P1, arranged to extend across the sewer and to support the conveyer chain-wheels L L3, in the manner shown, and for the purposes set forth.

3. ln combination with the shafts P P1 and additional shafts P4, the tramway F, supported on the shaft P P1 by bearings M M and the tramway F', supported to the tramway F by4 the stay-braces, G G1 G2, in the manner shown, for the purposes specied and set forth.

4. In combination with the tramway F and` support M', the earth-guides N N, arranged as shown, for the purposes specified.

5. In combination with the front standards E", the buckets E5 E3v R4, shafts P5 1:3 P6 and P1, arranged as shown, for the purposes set orth.

6. In combination with the chain-wheels L y L3 and tramways F F', the conveyer-buckets J and chain H, arranged to convey Athe earth deposited from the elevator chain-buckets H2 in a line parallel with the ditch at the rear, and in -said ditch, as shown, for the purposes -set forth.

7. In combination with the chain-wheel L1,

arranged near the top of the front standard E", the elevatorchain H1 and buckets H2, formed of bars, or solid, with serrated cuttingedges at the front upper edge, in the manner shown, for the purposes set forth.

8. The chain-wheel L4, arranged to be used at any desired position in the ditch by means of the compound shaft U Ul U2, inthe manner shown, for the purposes set forth.

9. In combination the chain-wheel L4, the compound shaft U U1 U2, chain H', and chainwhee1L1, arranged to operate as shown, for the purposes set forth.

10. 1n combination with the sheeting D D of the sewer, the compound shaft U U1 U2 and chain-wheel L, arranged to operate in the the manner shown, for the purposes set fort-h. 11. The compound shaft, formed of the socket U1, provided with a pivot-point, d, and extension-pin a, the main shaft U2, and the jack-screw U, also provided with a pivot point, d, and lever a, in the manner shown, for the purposes set forth and described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DENNAIS KEATING.

Witnesses:

E. O. FRlNK, E. VG. WHITNEY. 

